Preparation

Ratatouille is a well-known vegetable dish from the Provence region in south-east France. It consists of various vegetables cooked in olive oil and well seasoned with aromatic herbs. The dish can either be served as a main or as a side dish, typically accompanying meat or fish (and sometimes French omelette). It can also be used as a filling. This recipe is suitable for both vegans and vegetarians and what's more, it can be served hot or cold. It is a popular choice during the summer months in France.

Preparation:

You can cook ratatouille in the oven or in a frying pan and the vegetables can be cooked all together or separately. There are also various options when it comes to presentation – why not try arranging the sliced vegetables in spirals or in layers? This recipe uses the oven method.

We will start with the aubergine – wash it well, cut off the stalk and slice it evenly to produce flat, round discs. A thickness of between half and one centimetre is ideal – perfect for roasting vegetables without them drying up or burning. Leave the aubergine slices in water for about 15-20 minutes so that they lose their bitter taste, and then drain them well.

Repeat the process with the courgette, although it is not necessary to soak the slices.

Wash the peppers, remove the stalks and the seeds and cut them into rings of the same thickness as the other vegetables.

Finally, do the same with the tomatoes and onions.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (356°F).

Mix some Betis olive oil with salt, pepper, finely chopped garlic, parsley and the herbes de Provence. Stir the mixture well until you have a smooth blend.

Spread a little olive oil around the base of an oven dish. Then start to place the sliced vegetables in the dish in vertical stacks. Use the following order: first aubergine, then red pepper, courgette, green pepper, onion and tomato. Rub all the vegetable slices with the seasoned olive oil. The slices should be stacked on top of one another until the dish is full. A useful trick for getting the pieces to stack well is to cut a little piece out of them and to place that part facing down so that they stay in position better.

Roast the vegetables in the oven for 30 minutes, until they are tender. It is always a good idea to try them before taking the dish out of the oven. One final tip – if you leave the ratatouille to stand for while, rather than serving it immediately the flavours will be more intense. In addition, you can keep it in the fridge for a few days.

Note: serves 4. Preparation time: 60 minutes. Cooking time: 30 minutes.